The auction last week at London-based Cooper Owen included four Pink Floyd related items. As promised, here are the results of the lots of interest to readers of this site.

Lot 144, a Leeds 1969 concert poster (est. £500-600) went for £400; lot 145, a guitar signed by Roger, David, Nick and Richard (est. £1500-2000) went for a bargain £1100; lot 146, a poster for the film The Committee, didn't sell; and lot 147, a Games For May concert poster (est. £2500-3500) went for an impressive £3600.

The Section String Quartet have announced the release of their version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the landmark album. The Section, based in Los Angeles, is known for string arrangements of songs by such rock artists as Tool, Led Zeppelin and Nine Inch Nails, and they have done their own version of Radiohead's OK Computer album.

We shall have more details shortly, but in the meantime, you can hear a sample of their take on Time here, and if you like what you hear, order the album itself through our Amazon links.

Should be interesting - members of The Section have toured or recorded with Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Smashing Pumpkins, Elton John, Faith Hill, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Better Than Ezra, Christina Aguilera, Grant Lee Phillips, Neil Diamond, and Dwight Yoakam amongst others, so have good credentials. A review of the album will be available here shortly. The Section have their own website - www.TheSection.net.

The fantastically-named art gallery Zoltar the Magnificent of Marshal Street, London is presenting the first ever exhibition of photographer Mick Rock's portraits of Syd Barrett.

The photographs of Syd taken between 1969 and 1972 capture the man after his departure from Pink Floyd and "embody the spirit of London long past but not forgotten. Syd Barrett and friend, the photographer Mick Rock, were doubtless ahead of their times and beyond their years" (from announcement). These photographs can also be seen in the book published by Genesis, "Psychedelic Renegades", which we have had a close look at in our reviews section.

This summer Mick travels to Japan for a major retrospective of his work showing at the Tokyo Museum of modern Photography which will go on to tour Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong. He then returns to the UK for a series of academic lectures including a forthcoming exhibition of his material at the Institute for Contemporary Arts in London. The exhibition opens on June 6th and is open every day from 10am to 6pm. It is closed on Sundays.

Vernon Fitch, Floyd author and creator of the Pink Floyd Archives, is publishing a new book on "The Wall". Subtitled "Inside the music, the movie and the stage shows", it is being published by Reynolds and Hearn on September 30th, 2003.

Illustrated with 150 colour photos and unique, never-before-seen artwork by Gerald Scarfe, the project has had full co-operation from the band themselves. Brain Damage have assisted in our own small way, supplying Vernon with copies of information from the recording studio records from the time. Knowing Vernon's eye for detail and accuracy, and the help from the band and Gerald Scarfe, this book should be a real cracker!